Oswald Adventures 03: Burbank Station
by Kiwi Lee Scipio
Summary: With Pete locked up, our heroes and heroines head home, only with a twist. Ortensia and Minnie just want to get home, is that too much to ask for? (says the writer) Rated Teen for violence Will warn now, this is my first attempt at a mystery
1. Chapter 0

Chapter 0

"Promise you'll make it back up here when you've actually got time?" Mr. Whiskers asked, looking at his daughter.

Ortensia smiled up at the big cat, about to answer when she was forced to hold onto her hat as the train arrived. As soon as the train slowed down, Ortensia said, "Of course, Daddy."

"And you can bring the whole family!" Homer put in.

"Oh great." Oswald mumbled, getting Mickey to cover his mouth as a laugh escaped.

"We better get going." Minnie put in as other passengers started getting on the train.

"See you soon." Mr. Whiskers said, getting a hug from Ortensia.

"We'll meet you in Burbank." Mickey said, hugging Minnie.

"Don't get shot down this time." Minnie laughed.

"We still don't know who did that." Mickey realized.

"I have a feeling it might have been Harry." Oswald admitted.

"All Aboard!"

"Alright, see ya!" Ortensia called, pulling Minnie behind her as they rushed to the train.

"Come back soon sis!" Homer called out, waving as the two boarded.

The four watched as Ortensia and Minnie disappeared into the train. The girls reappeared in a window, waving as the train started slowly moving out of the station.

"Oh no, the train's already leaving!" a panicked voice called out, footsteps skidding to a stop next to Mickey.

The mouse turned to see who it was only to exclaim, "Clyde?! What do you mean?"

"Pete escaped while they were transferring him to the prison." Clyde explained. "Someone saw him heading this way."

"Oh no, if he's on that train…." Oswald's voice left him as he turned to look down the track only to see the caboose disappearing out of sight. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and called Ortensia only for his face to show frustration. "She doesn't have it on." He admitted, looking at Mickey.

Mickey pulled out his own to call Minnie only for the same results. "Come on, we've gotta try and catch up with it." Mickey said, pulling his brother away.

"How?" Clyde asked, running to keep up.

"With my plane." Mickey explained. He smiled back at the two following him. "I've got a plan."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Was that Clyde?" Minnie asked, turning to look at Ortensia as the Klondike station faded from view.

"It looked like him." Ortensia nodded. "I wonder what he wanted."

"Too late to ask that." Minnie said as she took a seat in their small room.

"I hope Daisy's not over run when we get home." Ortensia admitted, taking her seat across from the mouse.

"I don't know, those kids of yours are actually well behaved." Minnie admitted. She looked at Ortensia's face and added, "Well, when they want to be."

"So, any news?" Ortensia asked, smiling at her friend.

Minnie rolled her eyes as she sighed with a smile. "No, you know that. He'll ask when he's ready."

"You're in your eighties and you're still saying that?" Ortensia asked. "You need to ask him."

"What?" Minnie leaned back in surprise. She dropped her head so her friend couldn't see her face as she admitted, "You know I'm too old school for that."

"Oh come on, it'd be cute." Ortensia smiled. "And you know he couldn't say no."

"I still wanna wait until he asks me." Minnie said. She looked at the cat and asked, "How'd Oswald ask you?"

"He actually cooked me dinner." Ortensia said, surprising Minnie.

"Really? I mean, today, sure. He's not that bad of a cook, but back then?"

"His cooking wasn't all that good really," Ortensia admitted, "and the candles almost set fire to his place but it was still actually pretty nice."

"I'm still wondering how he got your father's approval since I know a little about how much he didn't like Oswald back then." Minnie admitted.

"That's still a mystery to me, too." Ortensia laughed. "Homer let it slip that Oswald had to do something, but no one's told me."

Minnie pulled out her phone from her purse and smiled, "Well it can't be worse than this…Oh no." she turned her phone to show Ortensia a black screen. "My phone's dead."

Ortensia reached into her skirt pocket only to come out empty. "I must've put mine in my bag." She admitted. "What's sad is he actually looked cute dressed up as a girl."

"I am not going there." Minnie smiled at the girl. "He's your husband."

"Come on, let's see if anyone's mingling in the dining car yet." Ortensia said, a smile on her face as she stood up and lead the way out of their chamber only to freeze in the doorway as she almost bumped into a cat walking down the hallway dressed in a sports coat and an old writer's cap. "Oh, pardon me."

"Oh, clearly my fault." The cat nodded back only to stop as his eyes fell on Ortensia's face. "My name's Julius. You are?"

Ortensia found herself not sure even to what her name was at the time, forcing Minnie to respond. "She's Ortensia and I'm Minnie. Where are you heading to?"

"Southern California." Julius answered. "Would you two like to join me for a late lunch?"

"That'd be wonderful." Ortensia said, finally finding her tongue.

The two walked out in front of the cat, letting Minnie whisper to her friend, "Do I see hearts?"

"What?" Ortensia asked, looking around above her head, fearful there actually would be hearts floating around her head. She sighed as she glared at her friend, "No, I'm happily married."

"That doesn't say anything, and you know it." Minnie whispered back with a sly smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell Oswald."

-.-.-.-

"So you two are heading to Burbank, I knew you looked familiar." Julius nodded, sipping at his canned soda.

"I'm surprised you didn't say something about it when you heard her name." Ortensia admitted, glancing down at her now empty tea cup. She looked back up at the cat across the table only to be surprised even more at his eyes looking at her.

"I meant you both." Julius admitted. "I saw the Oswald cartoons and my favorite have always the ones with his wife at his side."

"You've seen them?" Ortensia asked.

"Yes, part of my job is as a Disney historian." Julius laughed. "I work the cartoon side, keeping sure all the props and backgrounds stay in mint condition and every once in a while I can sneak over and watch the old reels."

"Oh my…" Minnie mumbled, looking down at her lap wishing she'd ordered something to keep her hands busy.

"What is it?" Julius asked, his sandwich stopping in midair as he looked at her.

"It's just, I'm not too proud about my early stuff." Minnie admitted, avoiding the cat. "It always worries me when someone says they've been watching the back and white cartoons."

"It shouldn't." Julius said before taking a bite of his sandwich. He swallowed it before continuing. "Out of your first two years, I still say Plane Crazy's my favorite."

"Wow, really?" Minnie gasped a laugh in shock. "Why that one? I acted terribly, it was created in a back room for crying out loud."

"I guess I just have a soft spot for beginnings." Julius admitted with a blush. "I mean, I still watch the Alice Comedies as well as some of the old Laugh-O-Grams."

"Does the studio have the rights to those now?" Minnie asked, remembering those were the predecessors to even Oswald's show.

"Ya, their copyright ran out, I believe." Julius admitted with a cough. He stood up before nodding to the two. "Will you excuse me for a moment, ladies. It's no longer legal to smoke inside anywhere anymore."

They watched as the cat walked towards the back of the train and exited the door before turning to each other.

"You wanna bail?" Ortensia asked, throwing her thumb towards the doors to the cabin car.

"You wanna leave someone who's actually seen your shorts?" Minnie asked. "Didn't you say on the trip up here that you wish someone'd watch them?"

"Yes…" She let her voice fad before figuring out how to word it right. "He gives me the creeps for some reason, now."

"We go from hearts to creeps?"

"I know, I know, but…" Ortensia bit her lip before continuing in a whisper. "There's something he's not telling us that's important."

"In other words, woman's intuition?" Minnie asked, getting a shrug of a nod from her friend. "Ok, if you want to."

"I'm also feeling like someone's watching us." Ortensia admitted, grabbing her purse from under the table.

Minnie took a glance around them to see only two other tables were occupied. One held a pig of about ten years of age eating an ice cream and the other held a rabbit working on writing something down. Every once in a while the rabbit would pull back her hanging ears to see the page better, though one ear seemed to love to hang in front of an eye. A diamond cross hung from her neck, shining in the sunlight from the window she was next to. Minnie turned back to her friend and smiled, "I think you're just over reacting on that one. No one's here."

"Well, I'm going back to our room." Ortensia stated, standing up. "Something's not right and I don't like it."

"Maybe you just need a nap." Minnie suggested.

"Maybe." Ortensia sighed before leaving the car.

"Excuse me…" a timed voice said, turning Minnie to her side to see the young pig holding a pen and notebook. "Could I have your autograph, miss Minnie?"

Minnie let lose a small laugh, taking the pen and paper. "Sure, what's your name?"

"Tom. Tom Van Pork, ma'am." The boy said, placing his hands behind his back.

Minnie looked up at the name. "Van Pork, you say? Are your parent's with you here?"

"Ya, they let me go exploring the train for a bit." Tom admitted as he watched the mouse sign the piece of paper.

"Here you go, Tom." Minnie smiled, handing Tom his pen and notebook back. Behind the pig, Minnie noticed the rabbit closing her book and leaving the car. "And tell your parents I'd like to talk to them if you can. I used to know them."

"You did!?" Tom asked, excitingly and almost unbelieving. "What'd they do with you?"

Minnie admitted, "I used to work with them, they would appear in the old movies Mickey and I did. They never told you this?"

"Naw, all they talk about is wanting me to take over their business eventually." Tom admitted, throwing off the sentence as if it was a fly. He sat down in the seat Julius had taken moments ago and asked, "What episodes where they in?"

"Um, I think your mom first appeared in Mickey's Follies." Minnie said, trying to remember her past. "Honestly I think you'd have to ask them for specifics. I don't remember it all."

"They won't tell me much." Tom pouted, leaning back as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Minnie looked upwards as the sound of thump, thump, thump, klunk came from the roof. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Tom asked, looking up towards where Minnie was looking.

"It sounded like footsteps." Minnie admitted, listening for more only for the sounds of the kitchen preparing for dinner to come to her. She shrugged as she stood up. "I'm sorry Tom, I really should get going. It was nice to meet you."

"Alright, Miss Minnie." Tom said, disappointed. "I'll remember to tell my parents."

"Thank you." Minnie said before leaving the car. She headed down the hall as beside her the windows showed the country side blow by. She pulled out her key to the room only to pause at the door, wondering if Ortensia had taken her suggestion. She shrugged before slowly turning the key and pushing the door open as quietly as she could, just in case.

The sight inside the room froze her before she could put a foot into the room. The matrasses had been pulled out of their beds and slashed, the curtains pulled off their holder and drooping to the floor were the carpet was littered with black fur.

"Ortensia." Minnie whispered, realizing something had happened to her friend. She turned around and cried out, "HELP! Conductor!"

-.-.-.-

"What on earth is your bright idea? To _land_ on the train?" Oswald asked from his seat behind Mickey in the two cockpit plane. The two had finally caught up with the train, slowing down and lowering themselves down close to it as it rolled along.

"That's an idea." Mickey realized. "No, I was thinking you could jump onto it from here."

" _WHAT_!?" Oswald eying his brother as if he was crazy, even though he knew he couldn't see his expression. "Why me?!"

"Two reasons." Mickey offered. "One, you don't know how to fly, do you?"

Oswald kept his mouth shut, knowing Mickey was right.

"Two, you still can use cartoon physics." Mickey pointed out. "I can't, not to the extent you can."

"Alright, lower it down as close as you can." Oswald said, unstrapping himself and leaning over the edge. As he saw the train come closer he pulled himself up so that he was sitting on the edge.

"This is as low as I can go." Mickey said, floating a few feet from the train. "You ready?"

"No." Oswald admitted before jumping off the side of the plane only to find himself squishing flat on impact. His body and pant over compensated, re-inflating himself almost as quickly as he had made contact and pushing himself back up and onto the plane's wings. Oswald held on as Mickey flied back up into the air as a curve in the mountains cut him off from the train. As the plane balanced back out, Oswald made his way back into his seat. "Well, that didn't work."

"I've got another idea, come on." Mickey said, pushing his flyer to go faster.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"And when did you last see her?" the conductor asked, his notepad in his hand as the two stood in the small hallway with the room now taped off beside them.

"About ten minutes ago now." Minnie explained. "Oh, I hope Ortensia's ok."

"I do too, ma'am." The man said, putting his notepad and pen in his chest pocket. "I'll call ahead to the police in Burbank. In the mean time you can take room number seven, just down here."

"Wait, you're not going to do anything?" Minnie asked, outraged. "My friend has been _kidnapped_ and most likely still on this train and you're going to let the police take care of it _tomorrow_?!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Minnie, that's all I'm allowed to do." The dog shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "Would you like me to show you to your room?"

"I know where number seven is." Minnie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Could you just get my belongings in there, please."

"Got'cha." The conductor quickly ducked under the yellow tape and pulled out Minnie's luggage.

The mouse watched him take it down the hall and into the room at the end of the car before dropping her arms. She quickly glanced around the car before ducking under the tape and shutting the door behind her. "If they're not going to look for her, I will." She told the room as she looked around at the mess who ever had kidnapped Ortensia had left.

A smell caught the mouse off guard, surprising her of the smoky smell before noticing a glint on the table next to the window. She looked down to notice a diamond cross pendant. She picked it up, knowing she'd seen it before, and put it in her purse hoping to confront the wearer of the pendant.

Turning back to the room, she looked for more clues, besides the mess of black fur under her feet. What Ortensia must look like scarred her to even think about, making her hope it was actually her attacker's fur instead. "Too bad black fur's really popular." Minnie mumbled to herself, looking around as much as she could without disturbing too much. If she couldn't find Ortensia, hopefully the police could. But she couldn't let her friend wait a day for professional help.

As she moved back to the doorway, thinking she might've missed something about how the attacker had made their way inside, she stepped on something, making her lean away to protect it from getting squashed. She kneeled down and picked up a black jewel in the form of a backwards D with a P overlapping it.

"Miss Minnie?" the conductor's voice asked, the door handle getting turned warning the mouse of his presents.

Minnie quickly stood up and grabbed Ortensia's robe hanging off the closet before heading to the door as it opened.

"I have to ask you to leave the room, please." The conductor said, trying to be polite.

"You missed my robe." Minnie said, ducking out from under the tape and closing the door behind herself.

"Sorry 'bout that." The dog tried, motioning for her to walk in front of him. "Please just let the police handle your friend's disappearance. It'll be safer for you."

"Thank you for your concern." Minnie said, forcing out her politeness as he made sure she got back to number seven. She closed the door behind herself before tossing Ortensia's robe onto the chair. She walked to the table by the window and sat her purse down to pull out the two clues she'd found. She placed her purse in the drawer under the bed and walked out of her room to see if she could find the person the two objects could belong to.

As Minnie entered the next sleeper car she found the rabbit she was looking for looking out a window and blocking the walkway.

"Excuse me, can I talk to you?" Minnie asked, trying to sound friendly as she walked up next to the rabbit.

"Oh!" the rabbit turned towards the mouse, startled out of her mind as her ear drooped over her eye. "Hi, Miss Minnie. You wouldn't've happened to have seen a diamond cross laying around here, have you?"

"You mean this?" Minnie asked, pulling out the cross from her pocket. She held it in her pointer and thumb so that it hung down and the rabbit could see it but not offering it.

"Yes, where did you find it?" the rabbit asked, surprised.

"Where my friend went missing." Minnie said, her voice taking on an icy tone as she put the cross back in her pocket. "Any reason why that would be?"

"Ortensia's missing?" the rabbit's eyes opened wide in surprise. "I don't know why my cross was there, the last time I saw it I'd bumped into some male cat. It must have fallen off then."

"Who'd you bump into?" Minnie asked, curious if maybe this rabbit was being set up.

"I'm not sure, he had on a sports coat and his fur was black, but I don't know what his name is." The rabbit shrugged. "I think I saw you and Ortensia talking to him earlier."

"Julius?" Minnie asked, surprised.

"I guess. Can I have my cross back?"

"Oh, sure." Minnie pulled it from her pocket only to have the DP logo fall out with it. She looked at the small jewel and asked, "Any idea what this is?"

The rabbit brushed back her ear to look at it with both eyes before shaking her head. "Sorry, no. Was that found there too?"

"Ya. I'm hoping I can find her before anything bad happens." Minnie admitted. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Fanny, uh, Fanny Cottontail." The rabbit let her ear cover her eye again, almost hiding behind it now.

"Thanks, Fanny. Here. Is it real?" Minnie asked, curious as the girl took the cross back.

"No, but who gave it to me was special to me." Fanny admitted. "Do you want any help in trying to find Ortensia? I sometimes write mystery novels so I might be able to help you."

"Oh really, that'd be great." Minnie smiled. In her mind she knew she was going to have to go everything that Fanny said, even if she offered to help, she could still be the one who kidnapped Ortensia. "Maybe you can help me with this then. I wanna talk to Julius, which since you said he bumped into you might make it so that he wouldn't tell me much if you were there."

"Right, he might be trying to pin it to me." Fanny realized.

"Why would he think you could take the blame." Minnie asked, realizing she had no idea of a motive for the rabbit.

"Excuse me." a voice said, getting the two to push themselves closer to the windowed wall as a female cat pushed through, her designer purse almost hitting them as she walked by talking on her cell. "I know, I can't see why we couldn't take a plane, but you know men. Always have to do it their way."

"Let's talk in the dining car, more space." Fanny offered, noticing the Van Pork's walking their way and about to get stuck going against the way the cat had been walking.

"Good idea." Minnie said, following the rabbit back the way she'd come.

-.-.-.-

"You wanna go ahead and get dinner?" Fanny asked, noticing a few people already eating.

"I don't have my purse." Minnie admitted.

"Don't worry, I'll pay." Fanny offered, going ahead and getting in line to get her food.

"I'm not a guy, you can't bribe me with food that you're innocent you know." Minnie put in, getting in line behind Fanny.

"I'm not trying to bribe you." Fanny said, almost sounding annoyed. "I know I'm suspect number one, you don't have to try and hide that fact."

"At least you know it." Minnie said. She tried to soften a little, sad she was being so hard on the girl. "If we had met on better terms, it wouldn't be like this, I swear."

"I know, it's alright." Fanny said, throwing a smile over her shoulder before grabbing her food.

Minnie got her food behind the rabbit and the two found a table for two by the window. "So why would anyone think you could be set up as Ortensia's kidnapper?"

Fanny sighed before starting, keeping her eyes on her food. "I guess jealousy? Back in 1927 I was Oswald's girlfriend in the shows. Walt took me off the role after convincing Ortensia to come in."

"Oh, you're _that_ Fanny?" Minnie said, surprised. "I'd heard Oswald say something about the rabbit he worked with in the first few shorts but I didn't know you were still around."

"Ya, I started writing books and tried to stay in contact with Oswald afterwards but he moved on and so did I." Fanny said, keeping her eyes down.

Minnie noticed her last words, wondering if it was true. Hoping to find out more about her, and to take her mind away from being prime suspect number one, she asked, "What type of books, other than mystery, do you write?"

"Sci-fi, actually." the rabbit rose her head to looked at Minnie with a smile on her face. "If you've heard about the End of the World series?"

"Oh, ya, I've read a couple of them." Minnie smiled. "I heard they're thinking about sending them off to the human world to see if they'll read it as well."

"Man, I wish rumors like that were true." Fanny rolled her eyes with a smile. "No, it's not supposed to. I think a few more thousand copies have to be sold for my publishers to even think about that."

"Why's your pen name Sasha Amore, it's such a distance from Fanny Cottontail." Minnie said, pointing out the reason why she asked her first question.

"Actually blame Oswald on that." Fanny admitted. "While Walt and the animators were trying to figure out how my character was going to be, Oswald was playing around with the idea of giving my character a different name then I had and came up with Sasha Amore."

"Oswald really did influence you, didn't he?" Minnie smiled before working on finishing her salad.

"Hey, could I see that jewel you found?" Fanny asked.

"Sure, here." Minnie reached into her pocket and found the small jewel before dropping it onto the table. "I wish I knew what it was off of."

"I'm wondering if it's off a jacket or shoe." Fanny admitted, picking it up to look at it closer. She sat it down and pulled up her purse. Pulling out her phone she quickly touched a few buttons before turning it to Minnie. "It's off a purse!"

Minnie took the phone to see a google page with the logo at the top. "The Daniel Painter collection." She looked up at Fanny before admitting, "That's a super expensive purse. Who would knock someone out with that?"

"I'm wondering who would even have something like that." Fanny admitted, taking her phone back to put it back in her purse.

"Well, Mrs. Van Pork would have the money to get one." Minnie admitted, knowing the woman's tastes. She looked around the dining car to see the couple and child sitting some space behind her. "Hey, make sure they stay here."

"You don't think she did it?" Fanny asked, surprised.

"I don't want to think that, but I need to find Ortensia." Minnie admitted, quickly finishing her salad before standing up. "I'll make it as quick as I can."

"I don't think you need to be too quick." Fanny admitted, watching the pigs eat.

Minnie stole a glance back at the pigs to see Mrs. Van Pork's purse wasn't the purse they were looking for before leaving the car, heading down to the second sleeper car and the room she had seen them come out of earlier. She tried the door, almost surprised to find it unlocked. She quickly snuck inside the room, silently closing the door behind herself, before flicking the switch on to see the room.

To spite their raise, the Van Pork's room was tidy showing obviously the left side of the room was the misses. Quickly Minnie opened the small closet door and ran a search of the three purses hanging on the door only to find none from the Daniel Painter collection.

Minnie closed the closet, wanting to make a complete sweep of the room before giving up. She looked at the drawers under Mrs. Van Pork's bed only to find woman's necessities. With the bed only covered in her own sheets Minnie moved to the table under the window but found nothing she was looking for. She checked the rest of the room quickly before leaving the room, glad to find no one as she crossed into the sleeper car she was in. A voice traveled to her as she was passing her own room only to find Julius and another cat coming out of the room next to hers.

"Julius, can I talk to you?" Minnie asked, stopping the two.

"Could you go ahead and order my dinner?" Julius asked, sending his lady friend away.

The female cat gave no motion she had heard the question, leaving the two as she walked down the car.

"Forgive her, Cleo's mad at me for some reason." Julius admitted, smiling at Minnie. "What can I do for you?"

"Is she your wife?" Minnie asked, surprised.

"Ya." Julius said, surprised of the question. "I'm not sure if I can say happily married at the moment, but she'll get over it. Sooner would be better than later."

"I was hoping you might be able to help me with something." Minnie admitted, getting back to the point. "I'm trying to help a rabbit here who's lost a cross pendant and she says the last time she saw it was when she bumped into you. Do you remember seeing it on her then?"

"You mean a cross necklace?" Julius asked, getting a nod from the mouse. "Ya, it was still around her neck when I saw her. She might've lost it afterwards, I think she was heading to her room then."

"Oh ok, thank you." Minnie nodded, turning to head back to the dining car.

"How's Ortensia? She seemed to have disappeared from the dining car after I left to smoke." Julius said, stopping her.

"I'd assume asleep." Minnie lied. "She wasn't feeling all that good so I've left her alone." She watched for a change in his face only to be disappointed as all he showed was a concerned look.

"I hope she gets better soon." Julius offered. "Are you heading to get dinner?"

"I thought you just had lunch?"

"Cleo want's dinner." Julius admitted, the two heading back to the end car. "I'm just munchy."

Minnie snickered at the term, "Nice word."

"What? It works." Julius smiled back.

-.-.-.-

"Well, anything?" Fanny asked as Minnie sat back down in her seat.

"No, if she's got a Daniel Painter purse, it's not in there." Minnie admitted. "And Julius claims to have seen your necklace on you when he bumped you."

"Well, I guess that means it's up to you to tell which of us is lying." Fanny realized.

"I still wanna find that purse." Minnie said.

"Oh! Look over there." Fanny said, pointing to the table across the car from them. "Julius' friend has a Daniel Painter Purse."

"That'd be his wife, Cleo." Minnie informed. "Can you convince Julius to talk to you away from her so I can ask her."

"Sure." Fanny nodded, standing up. She walked over to the couple and after a moment the two headed back to the sleeper cars.

Minnie quickly took her chance, dropping down in the seat Julius just left.

"Excuse me, my husband is sitting there." Cleo said, offended.

"I won't take long. Is that a Daniel Painter purse?" Minnie asked, looking at the purse sitting next to the wall on the table.

"Yes, it is." Cleo nodded. "My idiot of a husband doesn't realize how valuable it is."

"What do you mean?" Minnie asked, surprised that was what the two were arguing about.

"He said he wanted to use it real quick earlier on the train ride but the man never asked me for it until after the fact." Cleo admitted. "And he gives it back to me ruined."

"It doesn't look ruined to me." Minnie admitted, trying to find the spot the DP logo could have come from.

"Right here." Cleo motioned, turning the purse so that Minnie was looking at the side. "The logo's been ripped off."

"Could it be repaired?" Minnie offered.

"Sure, but it drops the value of the whole purse." Cleo admitted. "You'd think four years in show business and that cat would know a thing or two about quality."

"He acts?"

"Used to. Both of us did actually." Cleo admitted, a smile appearing on her face as the memories came to her. "We were in the Alice Comedies back in the mid 20's."

"You don't say." Minnie found herself exclaiming, surprised so many of the older toons were on this train.

"Ya, actually we got married during the show." Cleo said.

"When did Julius take your purse?" Minnie asked.

"Shortly after we left Klondike. Why?"

"No reason. Thanks for your time." Minnie smiled before getting up and leaving the car. Her smile quickly faded as she realized her grave mistake of letting Fanny help her.

-.-.-.-

"Hold on, I'm going to try to land on the train." Mickey called back as the plane dropped down closer to the train.

"Look out!" Oswald called, noticing the train was about to go through a tunnel.

Mickey grunted as he pulled the plane back up, going around the small hill the train was driving through. "There's gotta be a way of getting on that train."

"We'll make it." Oswald tried.

"As long as it's in one piece." Mickey added as the train came into sight on the other side of the hill.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Minnie walked down the hall of the first sleeper car, wondering where Fanny and Julius had walked off to only to find them walking out of the room next to the room she had been sharing with Ortensia.

"Thank you so much, I would never have gotten to that without you." Fanny said as she smiled at the cat.

"Of course, they should never put a shelf so high in a lady's room." Julius smiled as he tipped his hat. "Will you excuse me, I should get back to my wife." The cat walked away, passing Minnie with a polite nod before disappearing into the next car.

"How'd it go with Mrs. Julius?" Fanny asked, turning to look at the mouse.

"Can we go into your room?" Minnie asked.

"Um, sure." Fanny opened the door and let Minnie in first before shutting the door behind herself.

Minnie took a seat in the fold down chair off the wall across from the bed and watched as the rabbit sat in front of her. "According to Cleo, Julius took her purse shortly after we left Klondike."

"Why would he want her purse?" Fanny asked, only for it to show on her face. "Unless he used it to try and knock her out."

"Or she did it." Minnie offered. "Ugh, I just wish I could find her."

"Too bad we can't just skip to the end of the book." Fanny joked. "Then we could find out where she is."

"Or maybe the beginning." Minnie said, something hitting her as she stood up. "Come on, I wanna check something in the old room."

Minnie led the rabbit into the room next door and started straight towards Ortensia's bed. She dropped down to her knees to look in the small place in between the bed and table before pulling out a used match. "I thought so." She said, holding it up as she got back to her feet.

"Could you explain?" Fanny asked, lost.

"When I first came in here after Ortensia went missing, I noticed a smoky smell. A smell of cigarette smoke." Minnie explained as a smile appeared on Fanny's face.

"Julius, he's the only one on this train that smokes." Fanny realized.

"Come on, they're still eating." Minnie lead the girl back out, into the hallway and snuck into room 6.

"You don't think they're both in on it?" Fanny asked, watching as Minnie looked around Julius' side of the room.

"I don't want to totally write her off, but I think Julius is doing this on his own." Minnie admitted. "I'm just trying to find anything that would say where he's keeping Ortensia."

"What does he have against her though?" Fanny asked, opening the closet to find something to help. "I mean, what's his motive?"

"I've been trying to figure that out." Minnie admitted only for the two to freeze as the door opened.

"Really, Minnie, I thought you'd figure it out quicker than this." Julius said as he stood in the door way.

"Where is she, Julius?" Minnie growled, her hands in fists.

"Obviously not here." Julius said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it before taking a puff. He looked at the two girls in his room with a smile before saying, "Come on, take a guess."

"We can show them." A deep voice laughed as Putrid Pete walked into the room with a gun in his hand.

"There's your motive." Fanny stated, slowly holding her hands out.

"Come on, Minnie, put your hands up." Julius said, eyeing her. "Let's make this quick and easy."

Minnie sighed, knowing she was no match to a gun as she slowly raised her hands, palms out.

-.-.-.-

"Hey, I've got an idea. Get us close." Oswald said, getting back to sitting on the edge of the plane.

Mickey obeyed, flying a few feet away from the roof of the first passenger car. "If you actually land this one, I'll go ahead and fly ahead to warn the police in Burbank." Mickey said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Who knows what Pete's done while we've been trying to get on." Oswald admitted. He looked down at the train and jumped. As soon as he was in the air he started twirling his ears, hoping to steer himself down to the train's room.

As soon as his feet hit the roof he dropped down and glanced upwards, throwing Mickey a thumbs up. Mickey waved back before flying higher and speeding up. Oswald held on as he tried to gain some balance before getting to his feet. The wind whipped his ears behind him as he struggled to find a way inside. He trudged forwards, to the end of the first passenger car and found a ladder leading down to a doorway. Hoping for the best, he climbed down the ladder and opened the door only to find himself in a luggage car. The sound of a peg leg got him to quickly take cover behind people's cargo.

"Ortensia!" Minnie's voice exclaimed, getting Oswald to pear around the boxes to see the mouse being forced into the luggage car through the other end with a rabbit at her side. Behind her Pete held a gun to their backs as a cat smoking a cigarette walked behind him.

"Minnie." Ortensia's week voice said, her body hidden from Oswald's view.

"Hey, careful, you idiot!" The rabbit exclaimed as she was forced to the ground by Ortensia's voice.

"Well, congrats, Minnie." The cat said with his cigarette in his fingers as he leaned closer to the mouse. "You found her. Pete and Me, in the luggage car, with the pocket book."

"What have you done to her?" Minnie asked, her words growling behind her teeth.

"She did that to herself." Pete shrugged with a smile. "She wouldn't come easily."

"And neither will I!" the rabbit exclaimed as she jumped up at Pete only for the bear to shoot a bullet at her, sending her back to the ground with a cry of pain.

"This is enough!" Oswald said, jumping to his feet as he pulled out his pistol. He walked over to the two holding the girls captive, keeping his gun on Pete. "Pete, you're under arrest." He turned to the cat still smoking with a nonchalant expression. "You, what's your name?"

"Julius."

"You're under arrest too." Oswald said before turning to Minnie. "What happened?" His eyes fell onto his wife and the rabbit only to freeze. "Ortensia."

Before him was a cat holding her left arm close to herself, patches of fur missing all over her body and a bump growing on her head. Beside her the rabbit held her ear close to her, blood running down a hole now pierced in the ear. Minnie dropped down to her knees to help the rabbit, trying to get the ear to stop bleeding.

"You wanna join them, you Universal trash?" Julius growled, as he exhaled his smoke onto Oswald's cheek.

Oswald waved the smoke away before pointing his gun at the cat. "Why do you hate me, I don't even know you."

"You used to." Julius stated. "I helped you while you were learning how to act. Before I knew they were ending the Alice Comedies."

"So I should call you Winkler trash, huh?" Oswald smirked as he watched the cat's face turn red.

"Why you!" Julius flicked his cigarette to the floor before throwing a punch at Oswald, hitting the rabbit square in the jaw.

Oswald's head twirled around from the force before slowing to a stop back where it started. Oswald growled at the cat before throwing his own punches, his gun forgotten on the floor.

Minnie noticed it and quickly picked it up, standing up and pointing it at Pete. "Drop it, Pete." She ordered, pulling the hammer back.

Pete looked at the mouse holding the gun only to laugh at the sight. "You know, the other Pete was right. You do look sexy when you're feisty."

Minnie blushed but kept the gun pointed at Pete, not faltering in her aim as Oswald and Julius' fight started wearing down. She stole a glance over only to duck as she did as a carpet bag flew over her head, a projectile from the men's fight. The bag made contact, getting her to turn back to Pete only to smile as the bear saw stars above him.

Pete fell to the ground, his gun falling from his hands as his senses left him. Minnie quickly took the opportunity and used a quick tie that had been left by the porters to tie Pete's hands behind his back. She pulled him over to the side to have him sitting up before putting his gun in her waist band.

"And that's for what you did to Ortensia!" Oswald panted, knocking Julius one last time before the cat dropped to his knees in defeat. The cat found himself falling to the floor, not able to stop himself as unconsciousness took over.

"Here, this might help." Minnie offered, taking another quick tie from the container and handing it to Oswald.

Oswald looked at it before looking at her in surprise. He leaned to look around the mouse only to see Pete knocked out. "How'd you…?"

"I can handle my own." Minnie said, avoiding the fact that it was really the carpet bag that had done it.

Oswald took the quick tie and tied Julius' hands behind his back before pulling him over to sit next to his partner. "We need to have someone watching these two, for when they wake up."

"Sure, but first Ortensia needs help." Minnie said, going back to her friends still on the floor. She kneeled down in front of the cat and asked, "Ortensia, can you let me look at your arm?"

Ortensia bit her bottom lip as she held it closer to her chest. "Can we just keep it at, it hurts?"

"I know some first aid, I can help it until we can get a doctor to look at it." Minnie tried. "I'll be very gentile."

Ortensia nodded, closing her eyes as she moved her arm forwards so Minnie could feel it. After a moment of Minnie lightly running her hands over the arm and a squeak from her friend, Minnie turned to Oswald and said, "It's broken, we need to find something to make a splint with."

"I have a cane in my room. We can break it in half to protect her arm." Fanny offered, surprising Minnie.

"You use a cane?"

"Fanny?" Oswald asked, finally getting a good look at the rabbit.

"You're still a bit slow, Oswald." Fanny smirked, looking up at him. She turned back to Minnie and admitted, "I'm close to blind so I use the cane sometimes, but she needs something sturdy."

"Tell me where it is, and I'll go get it." Oswald offered.

"Room four, the cane's resting against the night stand on the right side." Fanny informed.

"Right side, room four, got'cha." Oswald nodded before turning around to leave.

"And tell the conductor." Minnie called, catching him before he left the car.

"Can I go to sleep?" Ortensia asked, leaning her head against Fanny's shoulder.

"Not yet." Minnie said, carefully placing Ortensia's left arm on her lap before grabbing her friend's chin. "Look me in the eyes."

Ortensia did as ordered, fighting her eye lids as they wanted to close.

"I was afraid of this." Minnie said. She looked at Fanny and explained. "She's got a concussion. We've gotta make sure she doesn't go to sleep."

"Great, this is going to be a long night." Fanny rolled her eyes only to flinch as her ear moved.

"Come on, Ortensia, stay with us." Minnie tried. "I know it's getting late, but you need to stay awake."

"Where's Oswald?" Ortensia asked, looking around.

"He's coming, don't worry." Fanny tried. "Once we get your arm secured we'll head out to the dining car and play some games."

"Ya, I think I saw Taboo sitting in there. We can play that." Minnie said, trying to get Ortensia to react. "Don't you like that game?"

"It's fun." Ortensia nodded.

"Here they are." Oswald said as he opened the door with the conductor standing behind him. He hurried over to Minnie and gave her the cane and a hair ribbon.

"Oh, thanks for the ribbon." Minnie smiled before taking the two things. She quickly broke the cane in one of its joints and placed the pieces against Ortensia's arm. "Can you hold this for me?"

Fanny held the pieces in place as Minnie wrapped the hair ribbon around Ortensia's arm. Quickly tying it off, she stood up and got Oswald's help in lifting Ortensia to her feet.

"Come on, Ortensia, we gotta keep you up and running." Fanny said, standing up herself.

"Ortensia, how many hours until we get there?" Minnie asked.

"Expected there at six in the morning." Ortensia stated, being forced to walk in between Oswald and Minnie through the small halls to the dining car with Fanny following close behind.

"That's eight hours from now." Oswald realized. His face hardened with determination as he looked at his wife. "Eight hours you have got to stay awake for."

"Don't tell me that." Ortensia said, her head rolling towards Oswald. "It just makes me wanna sleep."

"Come on, Kitty, I need you to stay awake." Oswald tried, pushing her head up wards.

-.-.-.-

Oswald tried to turn his head away as another yawn broke his face. He turned back to the game they'd been playing since four in the morning and asked as he leaned back in his chair to rest it on only two legs, "Who's go is it?"

"Mine." Fanny said, her ear covered in tissues where the bullet went through. She reached forwards and pulled out the card on top and leaned over to Ortensia next to her.

"Go." Minnie said, her eyes barely able to stay open as she turned over the sand timer.

"Um, what happens here stays here." Fanny said, trying to come up with something for Minnie to recognize. "It's east of here."

"Vegas!" Minnie exclaimed, it hitting her a tad later then it should have.

"Pete's gone missing!" the conductor exclaimed as he opened the door to the dining car.

"What!?" Oswald exclaimed, falling out of his chair as it flew out from under him.

"How could he?" Ortensia asked, waking up at the news as she eyed the man from her chair.

"I must have dozed off." The dog explained, almost panicked. "I'm sorry. One minute they were there, the next they weren't and the door to the outside wasn't shut."

"Great, they jumped." Oswald said, crossing his arms in frustration. "One day I'm going to actually kill that bear. That'd be the only way to finally-"

"Oswald, you know you couldn't." Ortensia noted.

"How long is it until we get there?" Fanny asked, her eyes shut as she leaned against her hand.

"Just an hour left." The conductor admitted.

"You wanna join us, then?" Ortensia asked, offering a card towards the man.

"Sure."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Mickey, I thought this was just a normal train stop, what's going on." Daisy asked as she found the mouse mixed within the ambulance and police personnel.

"Daisy!" Mickey exclaimed, surprised at finding the duck now standing next to him. "Pete had escaped us in Klondike on Minnie and Ortensia's train. Oswald was able to get on the train while it was heading down here, but once I got down here I found the police had already been told about what happened."

"But what's with the ambulance?"

"Two people got hurt." Mickey said, explaining his worry. "They're not telling me who though."

Daisy looked at him a moment before smiling, "You know Minnie's ok."

"No I don't." Mickey admitted, turning back to the tracks as the sounds of an engine pulled closer. The two watched in suspense as the train slowed down in front of them. "Who's watching the bunny children?" Mickey asked, it just hitting him that Daisy was the one watching them.

"Clarabelle's watching them." Daisy admitted.

The train stopped and the two watched as the emergency crew rushed in, a stretcher being pulled inside with them. A moment later Oswald came out rushing next to the stretcher and followed them straight into the ambulance before the ambulance took off, leaving Mickey and Daisy wondering what happened.

"Mickey, there you are." Minnie said, coming up from behind them.

Mickey turned around in time to find himself in a hug that he quickly returned. "What happened?"

"Pete and Julius kidnapped Ortensia." Minnie explained, letting go to look at him as a yawn interrupted her. "She got hurt pretty badly when she put up a fight and they're worried more about her head than anything else."

"Julius, who's that?" Daisy asked.

"He's the cat from before Oswald." Mickey realized. "If he's been working with Pete, he might've been the one that shot at us."

"It seemed like." Minnie nodded. "Only problem is, the two of them jumped ship, er well, train, sometime around 3 in the morning."

"You look like you've been up since then." Daisy pointed out as her eyes watched a rabbit being helped out of the train with her hanging ear wrapped in tissues. "And had a rough night as well."

"You could say that." Minnie smirked. "Can you drive me home after we find my luggage? I need some sleep."

"Sure, Min." Mickey smiled, holding an arm around her as she leaned on his shoulder.

The End

AN: keep an eye out for my next installment of Oswald Adventures: Return of the Gray Mouse.


End file.
